


Watchful/Wrathful

by omgitsomeguy



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Kinderguardians (Destiny), mildly self-indulgent, no betas we die like Dregs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27652961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/omgitsomeguy/pseuds/omgitsomeguy
Summary: Experienced Guardian Zandur helps teach his Kinderguardian friend Kali-9 how to use her Warlock powers when he's alerted to a nearby Fallen raiding party.
Kudos: 2





	Watchful/Wrathful

Once again, Zandur embraced the Light, tapping into that well of power that propelled him gently upwards. He drifted gracefully through the ruin’s broken wall and alighted on the de facto balcony, turning around to look at his friend down below.

“Did you sense it that time?” The Awoken asked the Exo, checking to see if his demonstration had offered her any additional insight. He received an annoyed buzz in response.

“I don’t understand what we’re doing differently,” she grumbled. “I’m using the Light to glide just like you are! But clearly not, since I _still_ can’t make that jump…” Kali-9 muttered a few curses Zandur pretended not to hear. He smiled to himself under his helm. Though Kali had been a Risen for far longer than Zandur had, she was still a kinderguardian, though he’d never be caught Ghostless calling her that within earshot.

At first glance, their friendship would seem odd to the casual observer. A gung-ho Guardian with a reputation and the reserved researcher. And to be fair, their friendship had taken time to develop. Kali posted bounties that Zandur more often than not happened to be the one to fill. She’d initially just given him his payment and a token thanks, even more aloof than Ada-1. Over time, he’d asked her about _how_ the bounties were helping her. Though she’d first dismissed his interest, assuming him to be nothing more than an annoying distraction at best and looking for a source of mockery at worst, his earnestness eventually prevailed. Kali had been pleasantly surprised to find a Guardian interested in more than the “wanton destruction of the enemies of humanity” and Zandur was happy to see a more direct impact from his work.

Zandur’s mind wandered back to the present moment as Kali tried launching herself upwards again and he observed his fellow Warlock’s form. She could readily call upon the Light, but her control of it was still a little shaky. Paying attention to performing the glide consumed most of her focus and kept her from nailing down the timing of using the Light, and she was still making the rookie mistake of watching her feet when she jumped. All these things combined, and she was only getting her head on a level with the floor Zandur stood on; Kali let out an exasperated growl as she floated back to the ground.

Zandur shook his head as he remembered those days. The first time leaving terra firma _was_ a terrifying experience and he’d broken plenty of bones and even his spine in a particularly nasty fall before he’d figured things out. Nyx had always been encouraging as she’d used the Light to heal his injuries. Kali’s Ghost seemed to be taking a bit of a backseat today, perhaps pleased that their Guardian was getting some socializing and fresh air. Zandur stepped forward and off, summoning the Light just before landing to break his fall. He approached Kali who was currently sulking against a nearby rusted-out car. “That was a good try _mon amie_ , but would you like some pointers?”

Kali’s helm turned towards him then away and she mumbled some discontented noises. Zandur took up a spot leaning next to her, placing an encouraging hand on her shoulder. Simultaneously, he checked in with Nyx and performed a visual scan of their surroundings himself. Though they were in what some called the “kinderguardian playground,” in the European Dead Zone, under the watchful eye of Devrim up in his perch, and had a few other kinderguardians also practicing the fundamentals nearby, it never hurt to keep an eye out. Particularly desperate Fallen— _Eliksni_ , he reminded himself— and vengeful Cabal sometimes showed up around here, hoping to catch some inexperienced Guardians unprepared. When both groups showed up at the same time... well, that was part of why Zandur was here, to keep an eye out so the kinderguardians could learn and grow.

Things seemed alright for the moment, so he turned back to Kali and stepped away from the car, her head turning to track him. “Okay, so, the form of your glide will come in time as you learn to trust the Light to keep you safe. But as much as you must trust the Light, you must also realize the Light is listening to you and wants to help you.” Her head cocked to the side and though he couldn’t see through her helm he could imagine Kali’s raised brow, as if to say _Yes? Go on._

“ _Mais oui_ , simply because collectively we as Guardians have identified the most efficient ways to use the Light—”

“Yes, yes, that’s why we have Titans, Hunters, Warlocks, each ‘class’ utilizing the Light in ways that are similar enough so as to be statistically insignificantly different from other individuals channeling the Light in that fashion. I _know_ the damn theory, but the practice eludes me!” In her frustration, Kali called up a void grenade and hurled it across the street, exploding harmlessly against the ruins over there. Like meercats, a couple kinderguardians looked their way and raised their weapons, but Zandur reassured them with a raised hand before turning to his friend. She took a deep simulated breath, shoulders hunched as she turned to address Zandur.

“Please forgive my… outburst. I know you’re trying to help, help I actively solicited. But still! We’ve been at this over an hour, and I still can’t reach the second floor, a jump you can evidently make in your sleep!” She scuffed at the ground, kicking a few pebbles, a much less destructive way of showing her aggravation. At her words, Zandur couldn’t help but to laugh, failing to suppress his amusement and earning a death stare from his robotic companion. “And what, pray tell, do you find so amusing?” It took Zandur a moment to compose himself enough to respond.

“ _Pardonnez-moi_ , but an hour ago you had hardly ever made use of the Light in such a strenuous manner, and yet now you’re able to form it into munitions and call upon it to fly up to the first floor. And yet you’re dissatisfied with being unable to reach the second?” She shuffled her feet, somewhat abashed. “Are you sure you just want to be able to conduct field research of your own, or are you perhaps hoping to impress a certain Hunter when you patrol together?” Zandur smiled as his teasing comment flustered her enough to distract from her prior annoyance. Nyx materialized nearby, shell spinning and flying into Zandur’s helm to chide him. _“Oh, leave the poor girl alone Zandy, she doesn’t need you bringing up her love life right now.”_

Zandur chuckled and affectionately patted his constant companion as Kali worked to compose herself. “That—she—I…” She simulated clearing her throat. “Ahem, you were saying about using the Light?” Zandur smiled, his amusement evident in his voice.

“ _Ouais_ , as I was saying: the Light wants to help you. Yes, we have figured out some of the best ways to use it, but you must still learn how to communicate with it. For example, with gliding, the Light senses what you want to do by the signals of your body. By looking at your feet when you jump, though you are trying to make sure you land safely, you are subconsciously conveying to the Light that you _want_ to be on the ground. Observe.”

Zandur stepped out into the abandoned street, looked straight down, and then called on the Light to launch himself into the air. When he floated gently back down he looked to where Kali and Nyx were watching. “You saw how high I went, _oui_?” Kali nodded and Nyx bobbed in place. “I was essentially asking the Light to send me back down to earth. But if I instead look up to the heavens…” So saying, he looked straight up and again launched himself upwards, this time reaching a greater height. He used his descent to glide back over to Kali and his Ghost. Kali had her hand up to her chin, contemplating this new methodology.

“Hmm, yes, I see. So you’re saying if I…” She trailed off and again turned to the hole in the wall they’d been using as practice. Zandur watched as she deliberately kept herself from looking down as she once again summoned the Light to lift off and upwards. Though her form was still wobbly and she panickedly checked under her feet once, she _did_ manage a little more height than her previous attempts. When she returned to the ground (looking downwards to make sure she didn’t botch the landing) she turned to him, a thoughtful slant to her stance. “You know, you make a halfway decent teacher, Zandur. I find it hard to believe there are those who think you would make a better Titan than Warlock.” She didn’t notice Nyx’s flinch, but Zandur kept his voice easy in his reply.

“Ah, that’s just jealousy you hear. The Titans _wish_ they could count me among their ranks, but Ikora would give Zavala hell if they tried to poach me.” While it was true that the Warlock Vanguard would probably raise hell if anyone tried to seriously harass Zandur (she had reportedly threatened to challenge the Drifter to a one-on-one Crucible match the first time he had tried to get Zandur to participate in Gambit), Ikora also trusted her Warlocks to handle themselves. She’d quietly informed him that the rumors of his being more “aggressive” than other Warlocks was offputting to other Guardians, but she also hadn’t told him to try to change.

Zandur was about to follow up with commentary of how not _all_ Titans—most Titans—okay, he’d met a _couple_ decent ones that weren’t the epitome of “punchy boys” when a crisp voice cut through on their comms.

“I’m reading a skiff with Glimmer mining equipment aboard, Guardian. Interested?”

“Roger that, Unky Dev.” Zandur chuckled over Devrim Kay’s prim sigh and turned back to Kali. “ _Excusez-moi, mademoiselle._ I have something to go check out. Just… keep working on your jumps.”

Before Kali could protest or ask any questions, Nyx had summoned Zandur’s sparrow and they were zooming away.

***

He knew what to expect. The Fallen often came to this area to scavenge. Usually it was small raiding parties, but sometimes they cobbled together enough gear to extract raw Glimmer, and at those times they brought a small army to protect the equipment. An unprepared Guardian could easily be overwhelmed by their numbers.

These Fallen couldn’t possibly be prepared for the fury Zandur was about to unleash upon them.

With Nyx’s help, he found the location the Fallen had set up their equipment in. He blew past their outer sentries and hopped off his sparrow, letting it smash into one of the hapless Dregs. Zandur took a moment to smirk at the irony of calling upon the Light to go into a glide as he chucked an arcing grenade at two more Dregs before bringing his shotgun to bear and unloading directly into the face of the Vandal currently leading this shocked crew. As the pulse grenade vaporized the two Dregs, he felt the bow on his back charge up with the residual Arc energy. With practiced ease, he stowed the shotgun, letting Nyx reload it, and pulled the bow, feeding the Arc energy into the three arrows, taking a moment to aim, and loosed the sparking projectiles towards the Dregs he’d zoomed past. The arrows struck true in the one Dreg, lightning chaining to their buddy.

From making visual contact with the Fallen to wiping out the current crew, the whole encounter had taken perhaps five seconds. He had maybe twice that long before the other nearby Fallen would begin converging on him in their attempt to reclaim their mining equipment. Zandur took a breath, readying more arrows while keeping one eye on his radar, another on the nearby buildings, especially wary of any camoflauged Marauders.

As he watched and waited for the Fallen to come at him, Zandur thought of the great Guardian tragedies that had become little more than cautionary tales at this point. The Great Disaster. The first Crota fireteam. Taeko-3’s squad of nine. The enemies of humanity were too numerous and relentless, and Zandur could not bear for any more Guardians to fall. These Fallen were operating too close to where inexperienced Guardians were practicing, where his friend Kali was still learning and practicing the skills she would need to survive out in the field. That was why, as the rest of the Fallen raiding party returned, led by their Captain, he felt no pity as he called upon the Light once more and unleashed the storm within.

The Fallen never stood a chance.

***

When he returned to the kinderguardian’s playground, Zandur didn’t see Kali-9 anywhere. At least, not at first. As he dismounted his sparrow near where he left Kali, a triumphant voice called down to him from above.

“I DID IT!”

“ _C’est magnifique mon amie!_ But can you do it again? Perhaps you merely climbed up there while I was gone?”

He could sense her frown at his teasing, but he also knew how much she cared about evidence. She stepped off the building from above, plummeting, and calling upon the Light right before landing. Zandur winced; she’d waited a little later than he would’ve, a technique borne out by her sudden gasp of pain. Before he could begin walking towards her, Kali’s Ghost had already emerged and begun to emit soft pulses of Light, healing her damaged legs. Zandur winced as he offered a hand to help Kali up.

“My apologies, perhaps I should have started to coach you on how to land sooner.” Kali accepted his help in rising and dusted off her shins.

“Probably. But experience is also the best teacher. So if you _insist,_ I’ll show you I can make the jump again.” So saying, she backed up to get a running start and took off with the Light. It wasn’t the smoothest ascent, but that would come with time and practice. When she alighted at the top of the building she turned around to call down to him, only to be met with the sight of Zandur easily, almost casually, flying up to meet her. He imagined her unamused glare as he set down next to her.

“Rude, sir. But I made the jump again, so ha. Told you I’d get it in less than a day, so pay up.” She stuck out her hand, palm up. Zandur chuckled and stuck his own hand out, silently asking Nyx to transmat some Glimmer into his palm. He tossed the small cube towards Kali.

“Here you go. Just so happened to find some while I was out and about just now.” She caught the cube and had her Ghost transmat it away.

“Oh yeah, where _did_ you go? I tried asking Devrim, but he just told me you’d ask him to keep mum. So what were you up to?”

Zandur considered his response carefully for a moment before speaking. “I was simply checking the perimeter. Devrim does a great job keeping watch from his perch, but his gaze only goes so far. So from time to time, it’s helpful for Guardians to make sure our enemies don’t get too close and encroach on our landing zones. I happened to come across a few Fallen who were either brave enough or foolish enough to come close here. Let’s just say I dissuaded them from coming so near again.”

Kali looked at him for a long moment but seemed to accept his explanation. She obviously knew the rumors about him and was smart enough to read between the lines. But for the moment, they could pretend neither was something of a pariah. As they looked at the sun beginning to set, Zandur broached a new topic of conversation.

“So, Kali, if we were ever to register as a Fireteam, what should we call ourselves? My vote is for leaning into things, call ourselves Fireteam Strange. Though I don’t know how Tabris would feel about that…” Kali gave him a playful shove on the shoulder that threatened to send him toppling off the building, but she began to laugh and they continued to bounce ideas off each other until long after the sun had set.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at writing some Destiny fanfic, mostly as an attempt to give a personality to my main in-game for use in my friends’ own Destiny fics. This story is basically the fictionalized retelling of me teaching my friend how to Warlock jump in-game. Zandur was also my first character in Dungeons & Destiny, which is why he’s French (so I could do a voice while RPing). Though I reference my friends’ own OCs, they may not be 100% faithful representations, nor does this story necessarily line up with their canons and chronologies. Like I said, this was mostly just so I could give some insight into *who* Zandur is, so now maybe he might start showing up in some other fics…


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